Softball: Luciano, Hersey have it working

Playing its first game against a division rival, Hersey's softball team looked ready to defend its Mid-Suburban East title on Friday.

The Huskies excelled on the mound with a 1-hitter from Winona State recruit Brianna Luciano. And they were sharp with their bats as well, producing 12 hits in a 10-0 five-inning win at Buffalo Grove.

Leading the offensive fireworks was senior Hannah Graff with a 4-for-4 performance that included a bases-loaded RBI squeeze bunt in the top of the fifth inning.

"I asked Hannah if she could get it done, and she said she could," said Hersey coach Molly Freeman, whose club is 5-2 and 2-1. "So we put her in position to be able to do it, and she took care of business."

Luciano took care of business in the circle, getting her first win of the spring with a career-high 12 strikeouts, including four in the final inning because of a dropped third strike.

"I felt like everything was working," said Luciano, a junior who was also 2-for-4 at the plate with her second home run of the season and 3 RBI. "My screwball was working and I had a great warm-up before the game that I felt was a big asset."

Sophomore Morgan Breden caught the first four innings and senior Sammy Pracko handled the fifth inning of Luciano's gem.

"Morgan has been awesome since day one and Sammy coming in at the end was clutch," Luciano said. "She has a strong arm.

"Our batting order, one through nine, has been solid, too, so that's been a big help."

One of those big bats has belonged to junior first baseman/pitcher Sarah Balitz (3-for-3), who led off the top of the third inning with her fifth homer of the season. She saw after only part time hitting duties the past two seasons.

"One of my goals was to be a hit full-time hitter this season," she said. "I wanted to be in kind of a leadership role and I'm really enjoying it. I'm having a lot of fun. I changed my swing a lot working with my hitting coach.

"It's great having this role and playing on this team. This was a great win. We haven't played in about a week. It's always good to get out there and have a good offensive and defensive game. We want to win the East and this is a great start to the journey."

"Sarah hasn't batted much the last two years but she put the work in," Freeman said. "She worked all during the offseason on her swing. When you put that much work in, you deserve this so I am proud of her."

Huskies junior leadoff batter Makayla Tsagalis reached base three times and scored twice while senior Jodi Hermann belted a 2-run single in the first inning. Breden and sophomore Ria Patel also had hits for the Huskies.

The only hit for Buffalo Grove (2-6, 0-3) was a line drive single to left by Olivia Morini to start the fourth inning.

"That was Olivia's senior leadership right there," said Bison coach Starr Dorsey. "I challenged the girls there and Olivia stepped up with a hit.

"We kind of got in too deep of a hole where we really couldn't put pressure on the defense with bunting and advancing runners.

"But their pitcher had a good day. She had 12 strikeouts from 20 batters and just took care of business. We were timid at the plate and we've got to be a lot more aggressive if we are going to win games in this conference."

After Morini broke up the no-hitter, BG starting pitcher Megan Fontanetta drew a walk before Luciano got the next three batters.

Luciano had a perfect game until a two-out walk to Lauren Beiersdorf in the third inning.

"Brianna has faced really tough competition (Warren and Barrington) so that put her on pace to get better and better," Freeman said. "Her pitches have been going real well. I though she had a couple where she struggled but she came right back to get the next batter and that is the important thing."

Fontanetta moved to second base and produced two nifty dives to her left to take away hits from Hermann and Breden in the top of the fourth inning.

On Hermann's grounder, Fontanetta nicely swatted the ball to shortstop Jackie Bickhaus, who made the force at second base for an out.

On Breden's grounder also headed up the middle, Fontanetta bounced right back up and threw home to catcher Sam Hansen to get a runner trying to score from second base.

"Defensively, Megan had a really good day," Dorsey said. "She has good range. She made some good stops. She's got a good softball IQ and knows where to go with the ball."